North Korea is headed by an unpredictable leader and his regular threats to attack America, coupled with attempts to go nuclear, have compelled the CIA to step in and set up a korea mission center. Its purpose is to monitor all activities connected with the country, and it would be manned by officers who are knowledgeable in various aspects of the people and life in North Korea.
What is this Mission Center?
CNN reports that the Korea Mission Center would be operated from CIA headquarters to take advantage of having teams of analysts and officers in proximity to interact and make necessary decisions.
Such a setup would be in a position to take immediate countermeasures against threats from North Korea.
Former CIA senior analyst John Nixon has indicated to a section of the media that the Korea Mission Center would issue regular reports for the benefit of all those involved in the surveillances apart from the Trump administration.
The frequency of these reports would be as good as 24X7 monitoring which is essential given the secrecy that surrounds activities connected to the Pyongyang regime. They make claims, and the facts are difficult to prove. Hence the CIA has entered the scene to ferret out the truth.
The Seoul factor
At present, there are similar centers in the CIA to look after specific areas, and the Korean Peninsula is under the jurisdiction of a separate center.
Therefore, the creation of a center exclusively for North Korea speaks volumes for the importance attached to this subject.
The oft-repeated threats of attack against the United States and its allies in the region is a matter of concern and cannot be ignored. However, once CIA delves deep into the threats and assesses the ground realities, the seriousness of the situation will be revealed, and priority can be accorded.
A new factor has got added in the equation with the entry of a new leader in the arena in the form of Moon Jae-in, the new president of South Korea. He is believed to have a soft corner for his northern neighbor and wants to work for peace in the region. His philosophy is to do away with hardline actions, and if he can win over the North Korean leader to his side, the entire equation in the Korean peninsula would change.
Korea Mission Center has its work defined. It would have to collect information on the activities and plans of North Korea and sound the alarm so that America can foil their designs. It would get its inputs from sources in the South Korean National Intelligence Service apart from its operatives positioned in strategic locations.
CIA has the necessary expertise to gather information and separate the wheat from the chaff, and the main objective would be to establish the truth of claims of North Korea about its preparedness of its nuclear arsenal. Rumors keep floating about on the subject, and the United States should ignore them if there is not enough evidence to justify the claims.
